Splitting machine for making shakes



Oct. 7, 1952 J. G. BAILEY 2,612,916

SPLITTING MACHINE FOR MAKING SHAKES Filed Jan. 17, 1951 Snventor JAMES '5. BAILEY i f 5 9 @Ww W attorney Patented Oct. 7, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ti 1 i 2,612,918 v j I SPLITTING MAGHINEFOR MAKING sHAKns James G. Bailey Vernonia, Oreg. Application January 17, 1951 serial No. 205,435

. This invention relates to a splitting machine for making shakes. i

The cedar shake is a popularoutside finish for grain of the blockwood is largely determinant of the splitting line, a successful machine must alternately split shakes by starting the split at opposite ends of a block. The provision of a machine to successfully and uniformly do this is a principal object of the invention.

It has been found that to successfully achieve the necessary uniform splitting, the block must beheld rigidly against endwise motion and a carriage, within which splitter knives are movably mounted with respect to their splitting edges so that each splitting edge will be held in unvarying splitting position while it is removing a shake from the underside of the block, and when that particular shake is split clean, the. knife will drop with the block, raising the opposed knife'into block engaging position against the o posite end q of the block. Then the opposed splitter knife,

raised to proper position by dropping theffirst knife, will start splitting a succeeding shake, as only that .way, as I believe and as the machine has proved, can shakes having a taper be split without fighting the tendency of the grain of the wood all of the time. is the overall problem that my invention has successfully solved. The taper is largely achieved by putting a chisel edge on the splitting knife with the bevel on the under side and keeping the edge reasonably keen, to lead into the wood, and in other part by adjusting the limit stops.

A drawing accom anies and forms a part of this disclosure, in which,

Fig. l is a side elevation of the general organization;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken from the region 3-3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section. taken on the plane 4-4, Fig. 3, enlarged to the scale of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view illustrating the position of a splitter knife after the crank-pin 6 Claims. 1 (01. 144-494) To accomplish these ends Explaining the drawings in greater detail, numeral I represents a base member which will usually be mounted on a truck or trailer vehicle;

2 points out a relatively fixed frame that incor- V porates a carriage guide, within which is reciprocably mounted the splitter knife operating carriage 3, which is reciprocated by the connecting rod 4, which is in turn operated by the gear 5, pinion 6 and drive belt T, which latter will be connected to a suitable motor of requisite horsepower. The drive is shown schematically. not necessarily being asshown.

Made rigid with the frame 2, which is made rigid with the base I, are two upstanding supports 20 on each side of the machine, four inall, to which are pivotally attached the arms l8, by pivot pins I9 and each pair of arms includes an integral shoe 2| to bear against the block H, as shown. It will be noted that the arms 1B are so pitched that they resist upward thrust against the block l1, while normally resting on top of the carriage .3 which reciprocates beneath the blockll.

I will now describe the splitter knives 8 and 9, which are mounted in opposite ends of the carria e by cross-rods 3' and 3".

The knives 8 and 9 must be shifted by power by a lost motion device that operates upon re- .versal of the stroke of the connecting rod 4 at I 7 each end of its stroke, by reason of its driving connection, the crankpin H).

The connecting rod 4 is joined to a heavy cross-shaft ll. equipped with wheels l2, which are preferably ball bearing, outside of which are carriage connecting rods l3, pivoted by pivots I4,

. to the rocker arms I 5, mounted on the rock Fig. 6 is a section of Fig. 4, taken on the plane 1 6-6 of Fig. 4 with the base omitted.

shafts IE, on the inside ends of which are made rigid the crescent shapedknife shifters 22, of

which there are two that operate the knives 8 and 9.

As each splitting stroke is completed and the crankpin l0 reverses the stroke, there is a slight pause that is implicit in all crankpin driven apparatus. It will be observed that the sole driving connection between the connecting rod 4, here regarded as the source of reciprocating power for the carriage 3, and the carriage, is connecting rods 13 pivoted to the rocker arms l5 upon contact thereby with the limit stops 23, which are shown to be and necessarily are adjustable as by capscrews 24 or other suitable means.

The mode of operation is this. As the crankpin Ill reverses the stroke of the connecting rod 4, the first thing is to reverse the position of the splitting knives 8 and 9, an opposite reversal taking place at the end of each opposite stroke; which positions the appropriate splitter knife to enter the block I! when the lost motion is taken up between the limit stops and the carriage when the splitter knives begin the operative stroke.

The knives 8 and 9 are beveled on their under surfaces by bevels 8' and 9', to present a chisel edge that tends to lead into the wood, which overcomes the tendency of the wood by its grain to run out t'o zero thickness before a 24 inch shake is completely split off. The point of entrance of the splitter knife determines the thick end of the shake and careful adjustment of the limit stops 23 will result in a proper proportion of thickness at the opposite ends of the shake, by trial and error.

No provision is made to prevent .tco .deeppenetration as it is not needed, the grain of the wood being suflicient protection and freedom of the knife to run around a hard knot is a valuable feature.

Having fully-disclosed mybuilt, tried and commercially tested operating .shake splitter having a largeproductive capacity of shakes .of superior quality, what I claim as new and desire to secure by'Le'tters Patent, lis

..1. .A shake splitting .maehine for removing shakes alternatively .fromthe bottom of a relatively stationary block of wood, comprising a reciprocalc'le carriage, knives mounted therein to be alternately raised into engagement with said block of wood from opposite ends, .a reciprocat- 111% -means for .said carriage indirectly connected thereto,-.alkn'ife shifter, said reciprocating means operatively connected to said knife shifter, and a 'lost motion device positioned between said knife shifter and .said carriage.

2. A .sha'kesplitter as claimed .in claim 1, in which the. knives are sharpened with beveled edges with the bevel tending to lead the knife into a held block.

13. A shake splitter comprising a relatively stationary frame, a splitter knife carriage reciprocably mounted on said frame, a block holder mounted to effectively hold a block above said carriage, splitter knives roekably mounted in said 4 carriage, said knives formed with splitting edges in spaced position at the median portion of said carriage, rockable mountings for said knives near to opposite ends of said carriage, a common operative means for said knives and said carriage to shift alternate knives into position to start.

splits at respective opposite ends of a held block, a lost motion device, and a carriage reciprocating device, said lost motion device effective to delay reciprocation of said carriage with the knives until the knives have been shifted.

4. A shake splitter machine comprising a frame, a splitter knife carriage reciprocably .mounted therein,,.a block holding means centrally "mounted above the traverse zone of said carriage, splitter :knives rockably mounted with their splitting ends spaced apart in the median zone of sai'd carriageya'knife lifter means under the splitting end of each knife and a reciprocating device for operating said knife lifter at the beginning of each stroke of reciprocation and a lost motion device incorporated therewith to begin a stroke of reciprocation after the proper knife has been lifted.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 4 in which the 'knife lifter includes a double -'-arm lever that lifts one knife while dropping the knife opposite the-one that'is lifted.

6. The combination as claimed in claim *4 in which the splitter knives are sharpened with bevel edges with the bevel tending to lead the knife into a held block, and in which "-there'is no provision :of structure-tending to prevent too deep penetrations.

JAMES G. BAILEY.

IREFERENCES CITED The following references .are of .record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name .Date

Re. 9,251 Goldie June 15,, 1880 1,350,879 Nylund Aug. 24,1920 2,128,521 Beckman Aug. 30, 1938 2,201,815 Hendricks et a1. May 21, .1940 

